WrestleMania 33
WrestleMania 33 was the thirty-third annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event and WWE Network event produced by WWE. It took place on April 2, 2017, at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Florida. WrestleMania 33 was a joint-promotion event for the Raw, SmackDown, and 205 Live brands, the first since WrestleMania XXVII in 2011 as the brand split ended that year, but was reintroduced in July 2016. Thirteen matches were contested at the event, including three on the pre-show. For the first time since WrestleMania 29 in 2013, two world championships were contested: Raw's Universal Championship and SmackDown's WWE Championship; it marked the first time that the Universal Championship, SmackDown Women's Championship, and new Cruiserweight Championship were defended at WrestleMania. In the main event, Roman Reigns defeated The Undertaker in a No Holds Barred match, giving Undertaker his second loss at WrestleMania. In addition, Brock Lesnar defeated Goldberg to become the Universal Champion, thus becoming the first wrestler to win both the WWE Championship and Universal Championship, and Randy Orton defeated Bray Wyatt to win his ninth WWE Championship. The event also marked the surprise return of The Hardy Boyz, who won the Raw Tag Team Championship. It was also the first WrestleMania to be on the air past midnight Eastern time. WWE claimed an attendance of 75,245 for WrestleMania 33. This number has been disputed, as The A.V. Club wrote that it was "almost certainly a fake number" as WWE "has had a reputation for wildly inflating the attendance figure—as Vince McMahon once said on an investor's call, the fake number is for entertainment purposes", while wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer described it as "a total worked number even more than usual". Production Background WrestleMania is considered WWE's flagship event, having been described as the Super Bowl of sports entertainment. The event was the third to be held in the state of Florida, after 2008 (at the same venue) and 2012. Tickets went on sale on November 18, 2016, with individual tickets costing $38 to $2,130. On October 31, 2016, traveling packages with accommodation ranging from $950 to $5,900 per person were sold. A two-hour pre-show preceded the main show, with the second hour broadcast simultaneously on USA Network. On February 20, 2017, The New Day (Big E, Kofi Kingston, and Xavier Woods) of WWE's Raw brand were confirmed to be the hosts of WrestleMania 33. The four official theme songs for the event were "Greenlight" (by Pitbull feat. Flo Rida and LunchMoney Lewis), "Like a Champion" (by Danger Twins), "Flame" (by Tinashe), and "Am I Savage?" (by Metallica). At the event, Pitbull performed "Options" with Stephen Marley before performing "Greenlight" with Flo Rida and Lunch Money Lewis. American singer Tinashe performed "America the Beautiful" to kick off WrestleMania 33. The pre-show was broadcast on the WWE Network, WWE.com, Facebook, Google+, Pinterest, and YouTube, with USA Network joining the live coverage for the second hour. Beginning at WrestleMania 32, a match between Big Show and NBA star Shaquille O'Neal had been teased from various media outlets, including WWE. Shaq was a surprise entrant in the 2016 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal where he and Big Show faced off, but the other participants eliminated both of them. In July at the 2016 ESPY Awards on the red carpet, Show and Shaq had another brief confrontation. A match was proposed for WrestleMania 33, which Shaq accepted. In January 2017, the two began calling each other out on social media, posting workout videos of themselves preparing for the potential match. Big Show then began to doubt Shaq's commitment to the match. By the end of February, Shaq said that it looked like the match was not going to happen, but he would still train just in case. The following week, Shaq said that discussions were back on between him and WWE. However, Big Show's announcement as a participant in the 2017 André the Giant Memorial Battle Royal indicated that the match was off. According to Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the match was canceled due to monetary reasons, as both parties could not agree on a deal. Big Show said that he really wanted to do the match, especially since this would probably be his last WrestleMania and blamed Shaq's weight as a reason for why Shaq backed out. According to wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer in January 2017, a WrestleMania 33 match between The Undertaker and John Cena was scrapped as Vince McMahon had "a different vision for the show and was thinking the longterm picture not short-term." Since 2014, WWE has attempted to establish Roman Reigns as their top babyface and the next 'face of the company', but a significant portion of fans rejected Reigns in this role, taking issue with his perceived special treatment, real-life demeanor, wrestling moveset, speaking skills and character presentation. This resulted in Reigns being booed while he wrestled in the main events of WrestleMania 31 and WrestleMania 32. Reigns was even voted as 2016's "Most Hated Wrestler of the Year" by Pro Wrestling Illustrated readers, a first for a heroic character since the award was devised in 1972. In response to the negative reception, Reigns said that there is "possible jealousy" from fans regarding his "major success". In March 2017 before WrestleMania 33, wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that WWE's long term plans ("which obviously could change") leading to WrestleMania 34 was to "once again build for a year and have the big coronation" for Reigns, who would still be a heroic character "between now and then" and beat Brock Lesnarfor the Universal Championship "to fully replace John Cena as the lead babyface of the company", while the "idea" for Lesnar's role "for years now" was "to become a monster, be unbeatable, run through everybody, and then lose to Roman Reigns". Storylines The card consisted of thirteen matches, including three on the pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines, where wrestlers portrayed villains, heroes, or less distinguishable characters in scripted events that built tension and culminated in a wrestling match or series of matches, with results predetermined by WWE's writers on the Raw and SmackDown brands. Storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw, SmackDown Live, and 205 Live, the latter of which is cruiserweight-exclusive. At the Royal Rumble, Randy Orton won his second Royal Rumble match, earning himself a world championship match at WrestleMania 33 for his brand's WWE Championship. At Elimination Chamber, Bray Wyatt won the Elimination Chamber match to become the new WWE Champion, and retained the title on the following SmackDown. As a devoted Wyatt Family member, Orton relinquished his championship opportunity. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan then scheduled a battle royal to determine Wyatt's WrestleMania challenger; it ended in a draw when both AJ Styles and Luke Harper went over the top rope simultaneously. Styles then defeated Harper the following week to earn the title match, but at the conclusion of the episode, Orton appeared at the Wyatt Family compound, where Wyatt Family's matriarch Sister Abigail was buried and set the compound ablaze, and stating he had only joined the Wyatt's to destroy them from the inside. As Orton had restated his intentions to challenge Wyatt for the WWE Championship, a number one contender's match between Orton and Styles was scheduled in which Orton won. At WrestleMania XX in 2004, Goldberg defeated Brock Lesnar in their first match against each other. Both left the company after the event, but Lesnar returned in 2012. After twelve years, Goldberg returned in 2016 and immediately began a feud with Lesnar. He defeated him at Survivor Series in one minute and twenty-six seconds, and also quickly eliminated him from the Royal Rumble match. The next night on Raw, Lesnar and Paul Heyman appeared and challenged Goldberg to one final match at WrestleMania 33. Goldberg accepted Lesnar's challenge and also challenged Kevin Owens for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, which he won, turning their match into a title match for the Universal title. In 2014, The Shield (Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, and Roman Reigns) were involved in a rivalry with Evolution (Triple H, Randy Orton, and Batista). After multiple losses to The Shield, Rollins joined Triple H's Authority and attacked his teammates, thus turning heel. Rollins was the forefront of The Authority and won the WWE World Heavyweight Championship (later renamed WWE Championship) at WrestleMania 31, but was forced to vacate the title in November 2015 due to injury. He returned in mid-2016, and during a fatal four-way for the vacant WWE Universal Championship, Triple H aided Rollins in eliminating Reigns, but then turned on Rollins by attacking him with a Pedigree, costing Rollins the match. During the first months of 2017, Rollins started a rivalry with Triple H, asking for answers. At NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, Rollins appeared and challenged Triple H to a match, who had Rollins escorted from the building by security. On the January 30 episode of Raw, as Rollins was about to confront Triple H, Samoa Joe attacked Rollins, re-injuring his knee. Rollins was estimated to be out of action for up to eight weeks, but after an attack from Triple H, Rollins signed a contract for a non-sanctioned match with Triple H at WrestleMania 33, which forbid Rollins from suing the WWE if he were to get injured again. At the Royal Rumble, The Undertaker was eliminated by Roman Reigns. In the ensuing stare down, Reigns exclaimed: "This is my yard now!", a claim Undertaker had made for many years. On the March 6 episode of Raw, The Undertaker attacked Reigns with a chokeslam. A match between the two at WrestleMania 33 was confirmed the following week. After losing the WWE Championship at Royal Rumble, AJ Styles asked for a rematch, which SmackDown Commissioner Shane McMahon promised if Styles did not win the title back in the Elimination Chamber match. At the event, Bray Wyatt eliminated both Cena and Styles to win the championship. Styles received a rematch, but in the form of a triple threat match, also including Cena, where Wyatt retained. After Randy Orton relinquished his championship opportunity, Styles entered into a number one contender's battle royal, which ended in a draw between him and Luke Harper. After defeating Luke Harper to become the number one contender, Orton reinstated his intentions to challenge for the title, so Shane and SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan decided that Styles would have to compete in another number one contender's match, this time against Orton, who won. The following week, Styles attacked Shane and threw him through a car window. Styles was subsequently (kayfabe) fired by Bryan, but at the end of the show, an injured Shane challenged Styles to a match at WrestleMania 33, which Styles accepted. In mid-2016, Chris Jericho and Kevin Owens began teaming and assisting each other. Jericho played a part in Owens winning the vacant WWE Universal Championship, which ultimately led to them becoming best friends. Over the next several months, Jericho assisted Owens in retaining his title in various defenses. After Owens retained his title at the Royal Rumble, Jericho accepted Goldberg's challenge on Owens' behalf for the Universal Championship at Fastlane, which was made official to the dismay of Owens. Jericho then held a "Festival of Friendship" for Owens, who turned on Jericho and brutally attacked him. In retaliation, Jericho cost Owens his Universal Championship match at Fastlane. This lead to a match for Jericho's United States Championship. At Roadblock: End of the Line, Charlotte Flair defeated Sasha Banks to win her record fourth Raw Women's Championship, ending their long feud and, as per a post-event stipulation, as long as one of them were champion, the other could not challenge for the title. Charlotte then began a feud with Bayley, losing the title against her on the February 13 episode of Raw, thanks to help from Banks. Also during this time, Banks entered into a feud with Nia Jax. Bayley retained the title against Flair at Fastlane after an interference from Banks, who defeated Jax on the pre-show. The following weeks, Bayley was defeated by Banks and Jax. Both Flair and Banks touted their reasons why they should challenge Bayley for the title at WrestleMania 33, leading to a triple threat match being scheduled. Jax was then added, turning the match into a fatal four-way elimination match. On Raw, Bayley and Banks teamed up and defeated Flair and Jax. After the match, Jax laid out her three WrestleMania opponents. On the Royal Rumble pre-show, Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship. Cesaro and Sheamus invoked their rematch, but lost due to interference from Enzo Amore and Big Cass. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Enzo and Cass defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to receive a tag title match at Fastlane, where Gallows and Anderson retained. A rematch occurred the following night on Raw where Cesaro and Sheamus got involved, costing Enzo and Cass the titles. Later on, Raw General Manager Mick Foley scheduled Cesaro and Sheamus to face Enzo and Cass on the next episode, with the winners going on to challenge Gallows and Anderson for the titles at WrestleMania 33. However, during that match, Gallows and Anderson attacked both teams, causing a double disqualification. Foley then scheduled Gallows and Anderson to defend the titles against both teams at WrestleMania in a triple threat match. The following weeks, Gallows and Anerson attacked the others with a ladder. The WrestleMania match was then turned into a triple threat ladder match for the Raw Tag Team Championship. At Elimination Chamber, Naomi defeated Alexa Bliss to win the SmackDown Women's Championship, but a legit injury forced her to relinquish the title. Bliss then defeated Becky Lynch for the vacant title. On the March 7 episode of SmackDown, Becky, Natalya, and even Bliss's ally Mickie James all demanded to challenge for the championship at WrestleMania 33. SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan decided that Bliss would defend the title against all available female SmackDown wrestlers at WrestleMania. On the final SmackDown before WrestleMania, Naomi returned and confirmed that she would be in the match at WrestleMania, making it a six-pack challenge. At Elimination Chamber during the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match, Baron Corbin was eliminated by the Intercontinental Champion Dean Ambrose. Then, Corbin executed the End of Days on him before he left the chamber, causing his elimination. During the following weeks, both wrestlers attacked each other, leading to a match at WrestleMania for the Intercontinental title. The match was moved to the pre-show. After retaining the WWE Cruiserweight Championship for several months, Neville said there was no one left in the cruiserweight division that could compete with him. Austin Aries, who had been out of action due to injury, disagreed and attacked Neville. On the March 14 episode of 205 Live, Aries won a fatal five-way elimination match to face Neville at the WrestleMania pre-show. Aftermath There had been much speculation that Undertaker had competed in his final match. While it was not confirmed on air, the WWE online merchandise store released a commemorative photo plaque showing a photo of Undertaker's gear that he left in the ring, with the description stating that he had ended his in-ring career. In addition, Dave Meltzer of Wrestling Observer reported that Undertaker would be getting surgeries for his injuries, specifically a hip replacement surgery that Undertaker held off due to his commitments with WWE. The following year at WrestleMania 34, however, Undertaker returned and defeated John Cena. Results Cruiserweight results Raw/SmackDown results Other on-screen personnel See also * List of WWE pay-per-view events * WrestleMania Category:WrestleMania Category:World Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view events Category:2017 Pay-Per-View Events